


Videogame Boyfriends

by i_think_id_make_a_good_ghost



Series: Playing Video Games [1]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Implied Relationships, M/M, youtube personalities au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-24
Updated: 2015-10-03
Packaged: 2018-04-17 01:33:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4647306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_think_id_make_a_good_ghost/pseuds/i_think_id_make_a_good_ghost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What are you??" Church laughs, circling around Wash. "It's a cat, duh." Wash scoffs and pulls up a map from his inventory.<br/>"It looks like a cat that was in a car accident." Church snickers.<br/>Wash makes an offended noise, "No it doesn't! It's cute. Yours is- what is yours? A halo character? How lame."<br/>"No, it's supposed to be Shepard from Mass Effect you loser."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> honestly this is just some self-indulgent au that i enjoyed writing so i thought i'd post it here. most of this fic is already written out but if it picks up any attention, i'll try to update regularly

"You ready?" Church asks his partner over the Skype call while he scrolls over options in the menu of the game they're playing. "Yeah," Wash says though he sounds distant and Church rolls his eyes. "No you're not, what are you doing?" He asks, looking over to the other monitor that shows David's webcam. He's miles away from his desktop crouched beside his bed with his back turned towards the camera. "I'm trying to get Benjamin out from behind the bed." Wash says, laying on his stomach now so Church can't see him anymore.  
"Oh my god, I hate you. Do you know what time it is here? Leave him there and join the game already." Church groans and leans on his elbow while he waits for Washington to get his ass up.  
"I will, just wait a few minutes." Wash says not hiding how annoyed he is by Church rushing him.  
Church rolls his eyes and takes the few minutes to complain about Wash and his stupid cats over Twitter and reply to a text Tucker sent him about hanging out next weekend.  
"Okay," Wash says, sounding closer now that he's at his desk.  
"Finally," Church mumbles and readies himself at his keyboard he starts his recording and their two characters pop up on screen.

"What are you??" Church laughs, circling around Wash. "It's a cat, duh." Wash scoffs and pulls up a map from his inventory.  
"It looks like a cat that was in a car accident." Church snickers.  
Wash makes an offended noise, "No it doesn't! It's cute. Yours is- what is yours? A halo character? How lame."  
"No, it's supposed to be Shepard from Mass Effect you loser."  
"Nerd." Wash chuckles fondly and scrambles away to collect wood while Church goes to find the nearest village and terrorize villagers.

After an hour of recording and non-stop bickering Church yawns and Wash suggests to call it a night.  
"It's only an hour though, I need at least two hours of footage for the rest of the week." Church yawns again, and curses.  
"I think you should sleep. It's pretty late over here too." Wash says and Church hates it because he's talking to him as if he was a child or something and it's even worse because he's right.  
"Ugh, fine." Church stops the recording after he and Wash exit the game but forgets the audio as Wash is suddenly attacked by Benjamin and it's fucking hilarious.  
"He hates you." Church says after Wash has gotten Benjamin off his desk.  
"That's just how he shows his affection." Wash says, glancing back at Church knowingly- knowing about what? Church isn't sure. He just scoffs, "Yeah, I doubt that. If a little devil with fur mauled me in my sleep I wouldn't call that love."

Church rests his head on his arms watching the screen, "You shouldn't sleep at your desk, that's why you always sound so cranky in the morning." Wash tells him while he's doing the same exact thing.  
"I can't sleep any other way." Then adds, "I don't get cranky."  
"You do." Wash chuckles softly, "I call you in the morning and you snap at me for waking you up."  
"Well, maybe you shouldn't call so early." Church retorts.  
"It's like 9am your time." Wash says rolling his eyes at Church.  
"Exactly. Not everyone is a day person."

Church isn't sure when he fell asleep, it was some time after the argument about Wash being an alarm clock and between the argument about which Power Ranger was the best. Church was positive it was the blue one.  
When Church wakes up he notices his screen sleeping and his back hurting like a bitch. He has a good stretch before walking out of his room to make himself a bowl of cereal.  
Like clockwork his phone rang and he answered it right away, "What." He grunts into the receiver.  
"Wanted to make sure you were still alive, Grumpy." Wash says.  
"Barely." Church yawns, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.  
"I also wanted to tell you might be late for tonight's session."  
"How late?" Church asks, frowning at his bowl of cereal. "An hour.. Or two. The guys wanted to go out tonight to celebrate Connie's birthday and I'll try to leave early but you know them."  
Church shrugs, "It's fine, I can always get Tucker to come over anyway. Don't you have editing to do though?"  
"I got that covered. I stayed up a little later after you fell asleep to get it done." Wash tells him and Church hates him a little more because he's always got a plan.  
"Alright, I'll talk to you later then. Have fun without me, asshole."  
"I'll try." Wash says and Church can almost hear his smile over the phone.

Church takes a quick shower and changes into a cleaner set of clothes that don't smell like old microwaveable food, and gives himself a reminder to do the laundry. Church then gets to work on editing and rendering his videos to put on his channel. He's taking a sip of cola when he notices his audio had been recording all night and it's way too long to savior.  
Church groans audibly and lets his forehead fall to his desk. He blames himself for not paying more attention to what he was doing last night, but he mostly blames Wash and his dumb cat for being distracting.  
He plugs in his headphones to see what it did record and it did get most of his gameplay with Wash and Church hopes he can trim it down and use that audio. It might take a while and some of his subscribers will get pissy, but fuck it.  
He's about to cut it when he skips over a few minutes after quitting the game and Church recognizes his drowsy voice mumbling something to Wash. Church turns up the volume in his headphones and makes out the conversation that goes something like this:  
"What was that Church?"  
"I said I love you."  
"Good one, Leonard. Go to bed already."  
"I mean it, asshole. I am completely-" He yawns, "Completely in love with you, and I can't stand it."  
Wash is quiet for a long moment and Church is most likely asleep by now.

Church can feel his heart stopping in his chest, he can't fucking believe that actually happened last night. Has he ever done that before? He did fall asleep while on call with Wash multiple times before.  
His face flushes with embarrassment and drops his head into his hands, letting out a groan of despair.  
What made it worse is that Wash never responded and he never mentioned anything during his phone call in the morning.  
Oh god, what is he going to do when Wash calls him tonight? He can't avoid him suddenly without Wash questioning why he was acting so weird suddenly.

Why did he never responded to Church's delirious confession?  
Church groans again because that's going to be all he can think about all day.

He looks up to his screen and lets out a sigh, throwing himself into his work which usually distracted him enough he forgets what year it is. He has a lot of work to do anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh man i didn't realize this chapter was so short whoops

"I can come over at 6." Tucker informs Church over the phone, "Is that good for you?"  
"Yeah, that's fine." Church says.  
"I have a date at 8 though, so I won't be able to stay long."  
"I only need two hours of footage, so you're fine." Church tells him as he scrolls through some emails. "Who are you going out with anyway?" Church asks, knowing better it was usually a terrible idea to ask because Tucker couldn't even remember the poor girl's name.  
"Uh, no one in particular." Tucker says, obviously avoiding the question.  
"No one in particular?" Church repeats, raising a brow.  
"Look, it's not a big deal, I just finally convinced that cute teacher's aid at Junior's school to go out with me."  
"Oh, shit. So it is a pretty big deal, huh? Do you have a crush, Tucker?" Church snickers, enjoying the chance to tease his friend,  
"Shut up, I don’t have to come over you know."  
"Okay, I get it. Just make sure you get here on time I don't need another asshole to bail out on me."  
"The world doesn't revolve around you Church." Tucker says.  
"It should." Church mutters.

Church is driving to the nearest fast food joint for lunch when his phone rings. He knows it's Wash who probably hasn't had lunch yet. It's the only time they take to do something together- sort of like a lunch date.  
Church doesn't want to answer it- especially not now that he's made that observation.  
He answers anyway, putting the phone on speaker and easily slipping into his usual sarcastic demeanor.  
"Are you trying to get me into a car accident?" He says, still keeping his eyes in the road.  
"I thought you'd be at the restaurant by now," Wash commented. "Where are you going?"  
"Uh, Pizza place down the street." Church says, "Why you don't feel like having pizza?"  
"Not today," Wash say, probably getting into his own car by now, "How about Thai?"  
"You know Thai makes me gassy."  
"Okay, how about burgers?"  
"Yuck."  
"Will you stop being so picky?"  
"I'm not I already had a place to go to lunch before you called."  
"Fine, pizza it is. Tomorrow I get to pick the place."  
"Deal."

Church and Wash order at separate times, but they're on the phone again commenting about how good or terrible their food is and talking about the pains they've had to go through earlier in the day.  
"Have you called your sister?" Wash asks. "Should I have?" Church asks mid bite and Wash has to tell him not to eat with his mouth full.  
"She's been a little.. Irritable lately I think she could use a call from her endearing little brother."  
"So, she's being a bitch and you want me to tell her to chill the fuck out."  
"No!" Wash says all too quickly then pauses, "Well.. If you could just word it more nicely and keep my name out of it; Yes." Church laughs, "Okay, I'll give her a call before Tucker comes over."  
"You got Tucker to replace me?"  
"I told you I was gonna do it, I didn't want to pull you from your friend's party too early." Church shrugs even though it goes unseen.  
"That's very considerate of you." Wash says, Church tries not to imagine the smile he would probably have on him, it makes his stomach churn and he's had one too many slices of pizza.  
"Whatever. You better not bail on me next time." Church mutters into his phone and loudly slurps his drink.

"Church? I've been meaning to ask you something." Wash says, catching Church a little off guard and his mind drifts back to his sleepy confession.  
"Yeah?"  
"I wanted to ask you how you would feel coming over to visit me in the next two weeks?"  
"… Are you serious?"  
"Yeah, why not? Don't you want to meet each other? Face to face?"  
"I.. Yeah, I guess so."  
"Then come to New York."


	3. Chapter 3

Church makes it back home with an even heavier weight of work that needs to be done if he's going to leave for New York in two weeks.  
He still has a few hours before Tucker comes over so while he waits he pulls out his phone and brings up his sister's contact. He waits for her to answer and scrolls through comments on his latest video with Wash.  
Some of the comments are ridiculous and point out silly things like how Wash threw all those roses on him and claimed it was cute. Church completely disagreed and did not for a second flush from the thought of being showered with flowers- being given flowers from Wash.

"Leonard?"  
"Hey Carolina, how's it going? Hey, do you think Wash and I would make a cute couple?"  
He can hear her laughing over the line then say "Yes, absolutely. Are you reading the comments on your video?"  
"You saw that too?" Church groans, rubbing his face with his free hand.  
"They are right though you two are like an old married couple."  
"Ugh. He wants me to visit him in New York did you know that?"  
"Wait what? That's the first I've heard about that."  
"He asked me over lunch. I said yes.. I'll be coming to visit you too, isn't that great?"  
"Oh, I'm ecstatic."  
"Wash is right you are a little bitchy today."  
"He said that? I'm going to kick his ass when I see him tonight."  
Church chuckles, "Seriously though, how are things with you?"  
"Fine, Church. I don't need you checking in on me. That's my job."  
Church rolls his eyes, Carolina isn't a touchy feely kind of gal and neither is he. "Whatever. Listen, when I get up there you're probably gonna have to bunk with me, so-"  
"No, I don't think so. York and I live together, Leonard. We're going to want privacy."  
"Can't your dog keep it in his pants for one week."  
"Who says he's the one who insinuates it?"  
"Okay, I'm hanging up now. Bye."  
"I'll talk to Wash, I'm sure he'll let you stay with him,"  
That's exactly what Church is afraid of. "Okay, fine. Tucker is coming over soon, so I have to do some set up. I'll talk to you later."  
"Bye, Church." Carolina says before hanging up.

"Dude, what are we playing?" Tucker asks as he uploads a selfie he forced Church to take with him.  
"I was thinking Halo, y'know to reminisce on the old days when it was you and me on this channel." Church says, loading up the game.  
"Oh boy, I sure do miss those games."  
"Don't be a sarcastic shit, I know you miss me." Church grins and nudges his friend. Tucker smiles and rolls his eyes at him. "Don't get all mushy with me."  
They load the game and join in a firefight. Most of the time yelling at each other and Church dying because he cant even shoot a grunt with the magnum he chose as his secondary. Tucker is much better at the game and gets a good few kills with the plasma sword he took off a dead alien.

After an hour and a half they call it quits and chill for a while before Tucker has to leave for his date.  
"Do you ever stop texting?"  
"Hey I have all these fly honeys to keep up with, I can't leave them thinking I'm ignoring them."  
"Don't you have a date?" Church asks as he starts uploading the footage they just shot to his editing program.  
"Yeah, but just in case I fuck it up I have back ups."  
Church rolls his eyes and turns back to his screen. Beside him his phone rings and he notices the ringtone and silences it and lets it ring.  
"Who was that?" Tucker asks. "Wash." Church answers.  
"You ignored it?? When have you ever done that?"  
"I don't have to answer whenever he calls, you know."  
"Yeah, but you always have. What's going on with you two?"  
"Nothing." Church says that gives away his annoyance.  
Tucker drops it thankfully. "Alright, I got to go. Give me a text later, okay?" Tucker says, patting Church on the shoulder as he stands up from Church's bed.  
"Yeah, see you later." Church says not moving from his chair and itching to pick up his phone and redial Wash's number once he leaves.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey!" Wash says, voice sounding pretty chipper.  
"Hey, sorry I missed that earlier call. I was with Tucker." It wasn't a total lie, Church thinks.  
"That's fine. I just wanted to call to check up on you. I'm about to leave for Connie's party."  
"You don't have to call to check up on me, Wash." Church blurts.  
"Oh, yeah I know. But.. Well, I could call less often if you want." He sounds so dejected and Church hates himself.  
"No, I mean. I don't mind it. It's better than talking to Caboose all day or Tucker accidently sexting me."  
"Okay.."  
Church sighs frowning at himself and at how awkward he made their conversation.  
"Are you okay, Church?"  
"Yeah. It's just been a long day and have you ever read the comments on our videos?"  
"Yeah. They're pretty funny aren't they?"  
"Funny? Sure. I mean most of them are basically saying we're in love, but I mean. That's fucking ridiculous." Church forces a laugh.  
"Is that why you've been acting weird all day. Because of some comments?" Wash sounds like he wants to laugh.  
"No," Church almost pouts, "No, it's not just that-" He frowns not wanting to bring up his late night confession about telling Wash he loves him and Wash never replying.  
"Then what is it?"  
"Nothing, I have to go. You have a party to go to and I have work to do." Church doesn't wait for a reply from Wash as he hangs up.

Church forces himself away from editing today's footage and tries to sleep. Try.  
But all he keeps thinking about is stupid Wash and his stupid confession and he's just now remembering he was supposed to text Tucker but it's too late now. He wonders how his date went.  
The last time he went on a date was in college, his ex girlfriend was the woman of his dreams but she met someone else and he's happy for her really. She's happy with her girlfriend and Carolina had this weird rivalry with her anyway.  
Church remembers how heartbroken he was after they spilt up, and call him melodramatic, but he vowed he'd never date again. And he's not sure why he's thinking about this now it's not like he's considering dating Wash.  
Wash who's stupidly pretty and has the cutest freckles he's ever seen. And good lord from his photos Wash is fucking ripped. He hates it.

Church picks up his cellphone and redials Wash's number he waits until he hears a sleepy "Hello? Church?"  
"I hate you. I hate you so much I can't stand it."  
".. Okay. Couldn't this have waited until the morning. I've had a late night."  
"No, it can't wait. I want to know how you feel about me because I think about you constantly and even when I try to ignore you I cave, and I hate it so much.. Why didn’t you say anything when I said I love you?"  
Wash takes a moment to let that sink in, "You were already asleep I didn't think you'd even hear me if I told you I-"  
"Wash who is that?" It's a woman's voice and Church immediately hangs up.

Of course. Of _fucking_ course.  
Wash isn't into dudes. Church shouldn't stereotype people but a guy that looks like Wash would definitely only be into women.  
He wants to dig a hole and bury himself alive.

\--

Church avoids Wash's calls and texts like the plague.  
Instead of doing videos he should be recording with Wash he suggests a stream with his followers and lets them join in his game and it's nice because he's interacting with people who like him and it would be even better if they didn't ask where Wash was every ten minutes.

**"@Epsilon Will you stop telling people I'm dead"** Wash tweets him after the stream.  
 **"Okay guys, this is just cruel. Who hacked @Washingtub's twitter to send me this? #RIPWash2k15"** It’s the only contact Church has responded to all week.  
They're suddenly flooded with mentions and retweets so any chance of Wash getting a conversation is out the window.

But then Church's computer dings with a notification that Wash is attempting to Skype him.  
Church sighs, there's no way he can keep avoiding and honestly the last few days have made him miserable.  
"What do you want?" Church asks as soon as Wash's face pops up on his screen.  
"An explanation about why you hung up on me the other day."  
"Because. You sounded busy." Church shrugs. "Besides it was late. I probably just fell asleep."  
"Okay, that's bullshit and even if that was true you wouldn't have ignored me all week."  
Church sighs, avoiding looking at the screen. "I wasn't busy, Church. That was Connie you heard over the phone I slept over at her place because I got a little more than tipsy at the party. Connie also has a girlfriend who would tear me apart if I so much as looked at her in any sexual way."  
"Not like I care."   
"You do. Because Tex would run off and sleep with other people behind your back."  
Church scowls at him for even bringing that up. "I'm going to hang up now."  
"Give me a minute, please Church."  
Church sighs and sits back in his chair, glaring at the man miles away from him.  
"I would never do that to you. I want you to know that." Wash's tone is softer now and Church looks away to his keyboard because there's no way he can keep eye contact.  
"If you let me finish that night I would have been able to tell you that I love you. I love you so much I can't stand it. You're insufferable and you're immature and so adorable." He can hear Wash chuckle, "Sometimes I can't stand how far away from me you are."  
Church finally looks at his screen he's sure his face is completely red and it doesn't help that Wash is smiling so fondly at him.  
Church rolls his eyes and brings up his arms to cover his face. "Oh my god. You fucking sap."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was gonna cut this into 2 separate chapters but it would have been too short


	5. Chapter 5

The following week is a little hectic, Church announces he'll be flying to New York to visit Wash, the fans are totally psyched and believe it or not Church is too.  
The fall back into their usual routine Wash calls him in the morning, the bicker as always, but there's a fonder tone they're using and Church doesn't mind it at all. It's not that much of a change to be honest.  
They don't talk a lot though, Church is busy scheduling a flight and editing videos for when he's away. Wash has told him not to worry about that, they can record something at his place, but Church wants to keep his promise to fans that were expecting the videos he had finished recording.  
Wash calls him before bed, making sure to tell Church to sleep.

"I'm almost- _yawn_ \- almost done, Wash, shut up."  
"I just don't want my boyfriend overworking himself sick and I don't get to see him on Monday."  
Church pauses in his work, looking at the other monitor Wash is on. "Boyfriend?"  
"Yeah, that's what we are, isn't it?" Wash sounds genuinely confused and Church takes a mental note about how cute it is.  
"Yeah. I just didn't think you'd be the one to say it first. Or out loud."  
"What? You thought you were?" Wash snorts.  
"Shut up." Church laughs because Wash is right he wouldn't have to guts to say boyfriend first.  
"You haven't told the others right? I don't want to be bombarded by your friends when I first meet them."  
"I haven't. But, they're pretty smart, I think they've already figured it out on their own. Or, at least your sister has." He shrugs and Church gives him a glare.  
"I don't know, Church. What’s the big deal anyway?"  
"Maybe, I have a problem with being public so soon." Church says, frowning to himself.  
"I understand." Wash nods, "But, it's only my close friends, and they can keep a secret. Don't worry; They're.. good people."  
Church is a little relieved, but squints at Wash, "You didn't sound sure about that."  
"Well, they have a mild history of violence, and South may have a criminal record, but that has nothing to do with this situation."  
"I'm going to fucking die there." Church mutters.  
"Don't be so dramatic." Wash says, muffled now by his cat crawling up in his desk and covering his mic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> REALLY short chapter today but i'll make up for it in the next one


	6. Chapter 6

It's Church's first time flying in a plane, he texts this to Wash, telling him that if he dies his ghost is going to haunt him forever.  
Wash tries to assure him while he has a few minutes to himself on the plane.

You'll be fine  
**im going to die**  
You're probably right  
This might be my last chance to tell you  
**wash youre not helping**  
I got another cat  
**we are done this was nice while it lasted**  
I love you  
**fuck you**  
Maybe when you get here  
**stop**

By the way Carolina and I will there to pick you up when you land  
**alright im gonna catch up on some sleep i'll call you when i get there**

Church wakes up an hour or so later, not feeling rested at all.  
He declined the offer of drinks and a meal from the stewardess because his stomach was doing flips and he did not want to be that guy who puked on the plane.  
He was completely nervous about meeting Wash for the first time.  
It was silly because he had known Wash for so long. At least 3 years. Ever since that video call with Carolina after she moved. He saw this guy just carrying a cat in his arms as if it were a baby in the background, and Carolina called him over to introduce him.  
He hated to be sappy, but the first time Church laid eyes on Wash and heard him say his name his heart did some sort of flutter. At the time he waved it away like it was nothing.  
They got in touch a few times after, Wash was probably the first one outside of Tucker and Caboose who was interested in what Church considered a job.  
When Wash suggested they play minecraft together and post it on Church's channel, he hadn't expected it to get that many hits. Apparently people liked their "chemistry."  
Thus, a friendship began yelling at each other playing video games.  
A friendship turned relationship.  
Church's stomach does another flip, but he feels a little differently- it might be excitement- it might also be that feeling he's going to dry heave and embarrass himself.  
He thinks it's excitement.  
He thinks it's because he'll finally get those arms around him and feel what it's like to kiss Wash for the first time.  
That feeling is back, and Church has to sit back in his seat and remember how to breathe.

His heart is going a mile a minute.  
It feels as if it's stuck in his throat and he might throw it up the moment he opens his mouth.  
Wash just texted that they were here, and that Church should stay in the arrivals because it's easy for tourists to get lost in New York.  
He stays put, hand gripping tightly at his suitcase while he peeks out the windows to take in the sight of the busy city.  
It's so very different than the town he lives in back in Texas. Not nearly this many people are in one place at the same time.

"Church!"  
He hears someone shout, taking his attention away from the window to see a head of bright red hair and a tall blonde male beside her waving at him.  
Church starts towards them, he thinks he might pass out before he reaches them because _holy shit Wash is here, I'm here with Wash. This is actually happening. Oh God._

He's suddenly being incased in Wash's arms, Church practically turns to jell-o because god, being in his arms did feel so right. And all that nervousness just slips away.  
Church lets out a breathy sigh, dropping his luggage so he can get his own arms around Wash.  
"You asshole, you're fucking tall." Church laughs, slightly muffled into Wash's shoulder. Wash chuckles with him, pulling back so he can get a better look at him.

"I'm here too, guys." Carolina teases, raising a brow at them.  
Church almost completely forgets that Carolina doesn't know of their status yet. He thinks they don't need to tell her she's probably already figured it out.  
Wash lets go, coughing into his fist. Carolina rolls her eyes, giving her baby brother a tight hug.  
"Oh, god you're crushing me." Church groans.  
She lets him go and smiles at him, "We're going show you a great time while you're here. South and I already picked out a few clubs to go to."  
"Clubs, seriously?" Church asks, reaching for his suitcase that Wash grabs instead to help him out.  
"Yeah, why not? You can go sight seeing with Wash tomorrow, lunch with me York, and after dinner we hit the town. You're not going be hiding away in Wash's apartment all week."  
Church rolls his eyes, "I go out back home too, okay."  
"You do not." Carolina scoffs.  
"I can vouch for that. We do talk almost every night." Wash interjects as he leads outside and hails a cab.  
"Asshole, you're supposed to back me up here." Church scowls at his boyfriend.  
Carolina laughs as Church nudges Wash in the ribs and climbs after her into the cab while Wash puts his suitcase into the trunk of the cab.

"I have to get back to work, so Wash keep an eye on him. I'll call later." Carolina says, handing a few dollars over to the driver up front.  
"Alright, I'll see you later." Church says, she gives him a light squeeze of his hand before he steps out with Wash.  
"Bye." She waves after the cab has gone and Wash has grabbed his suitcase.

Church lets out a sigh, turning to Wash now. Possibly a little more nervous now that they were alone.  
"Come on, let's get inside." Wash said, jerking his head to the entrance of the apartment complex. Church follows after him, slightly surprised when Wash grabs to hold his hand.


	7. Chapter 7

Inside Church is greeted by at least three cats running towards the door to see the new stray Wash brought home this time.  
"Don't worry, they won't bite or anything." Wash chuckles, seeing clear distress on Church's face when the one called Benjamin paws at his shoelace. Benjamin is the only one he knows by name. Church shoots Wash a trying look.  
Wash sets Church's suitcase down and sits at the sofa, patting the space beside him for Church to come over.  
He does, heart thudding lightly in his chest.

"I'm really happy to see you." Wash says quietly, reaching for Church's hands. He's smiling that breath-taking smile Church could fawn over all day.  
"Yeah, me too." Church says, his own smile tugging at the corner of his lips.  
"God, it feels so unreal." Wash says, cupping Church's face, "Doesn't it?" he asks, pinching Church's cheeks.  
"Alright, asshole," Church laughs, moving away from Wash's hands to keep from getting pinched. "It does. But I'm here. I'm real; don't pinch me."  
Wash chuckles, dropping his hands to rest them on Church's leg instead.

Despite how much his stomach is churning and his heart is thudding, Church leans forward, stealing a kiss from Wash. It catches the other man off guard but he doesn't hesitate to return the kiss.  
"I've really wanted to do that for a while now."  
Wash flashes another smile, "So have I." And he kisses him again, hands sliding up Church's arms, he doesn't stop there until his hands are cupping his cheeks, laying sweet, chaste kisses on Church's lips.  
Church has to pull away then, his grin is getting too big and Wash isn't helping his dilemma by giggling against his lips.

Church playfully shoves Wash away, chuckles leaving him when Wash tries to land a few more pecks at his cheek.  
"Down boy, are you gonna show me around, or what? I'm tired as fuck and need to take a wiz."  
"Always the romantic." Wash snorts, standing from the couch. "Follow me." He says walking towards the small hallway that's near the front door of the studio apartment.  
"This is the bathroom, clean towels are in the closet right in here. And down this way to your left is my bedroom."  
"Is that where I'll be sleeping?" Church asks, brushing past Wash to get into the room. He's seen what it looked like plenty of times during their calls, but it looks much different when you're actually standing in the room.

"You may be my guest and my boyfriend, but no. I don't think so." Wash tells him, crossing his arms. "We won't be sharing it either. Carolina gave me 'rules' before we came to pick you up."  
"Was one of them that you weren't allowed to get handsy with me?" Church snorts, sitting on Wash's bed and looks at the man leaning against the doorway. "Or she'd chop my hands off. She was very explicit."  
Church shakes his head, "She doesn't know us that well does she?" It was kind of a silent, mutual feeling they both shared that they weren't actually ready for anything that intimate yet. Just the implications made the air around them awkward.  
"I think it was just a fair warning on her part, but I'm still not risking it."  
Church only laughs and stands again. "I'm gonna use the restroom." Wash moves out of the way for him, retreating to the living room.

\--

Later Church finds himself drifting off to sleep while he and Wash had a quick dinner of popcorn and pizza while an old movie they've seen before played on the television.  
Neither were really watching, Wash was scrolling through his phone while they had idle chat but it was mostly just Church commenting on how shitty this movie was, but he wouldn't change even when Wash told him he could. He might have actually liked the shitty graphics.  
It was relaxing to have a quiet evening like this after being an anxious mess most of the morning. It's all Church wanted, honestly. Just having Wash right at arm's length instead of miles away behind a screen. It's exactly what they'd do everyday, but distance wasn't a problem anymore. 

After posting some pictures of Wash at a bad angle, Church set his phone down in favor of cuddling up to Wash and he sighs at the small squeeze around his waist that Wash gives him.  
"It feels like we've been doing this forever.. I was afraid it'd be really fuckin' awkward." Church mumbles sleepily, eyes fluttering closed. Wash reaches with his free hand to remove Church's glasses and set them down on the coffee table set in front of them. He gives a quiet hum of agreement, "Yeah, I'm really glad it turned out this way." Wash says about to kiss him when his phone rings and Carolina's number lights up on the screen.

"Yeah?" Wash answers, putting the call on speaker. "Checking in on you two. You're keeping your hands to yourself, right?" Carolina playfully teases. "Yeah, yeah. No hanky panky happening over here."  
"God, and it's not ever especially after you just said that." Church says to Wash.  
Carolina's laugh is heard through the speaker, "I'll call you guys tomorrow. Before lunch so you know where to meet us."  
"Alright, sounds good." Wash says. "Bye, sis." Church says just loud enough to be heard from where he is. Carolina says a quick goodbye and Wash hangs up the phone.  
"You ready to go sight seeing tomorrow? We're going to have to wake up early, mister 'my mornings don’t start until 12 pm.' "  
"If you let me fucking sleep I will be." Church grumbles back at him, Wash puts a hand on his knee, patting it. "The couch is yours then. Sometimes Benjamin likes to sleep here too, so try not to roll over on him if he does." Wash tells him, standing and stretching his long limbs. "I'll get you some blankets."  
"You were serious about that??" Church gapes, surprising himself that he was even entertaining the idea of sleeping immediately with Wash. Especially after his stomach was doing flips before he even faced him. It's just different when you're actually are in each other's presence after knowing each other for so long.

Also, he just doesn't want to sleep on the fucking sofa.

"I was. It's not that bad, you'll be fine." And with that Wash is going to his room to grab an extra pillow and blanket.  
Church grumbles, kicking off his shoes and cleans up the few popcorn that had fallen onto the sofa. He tosses away the empty pizza box just as Wash comes back handing off the sheets to Church.  
"Sleep tight." He says, giving Church a quick kiss and retreats to his room.  
Church glowers at Benjamin who's decided to stick around and stare at Church.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope this isnt as bad as i think it is :'^)


	8. Chapter 8

In the morning Church is woken up by a fuzzy little thing tickling his nose and the aroma of strong coffee. He grumbles, curses at Benjamin to get off his face and stands to stretch his limbs.  
"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty." Wash's voice comes from the small kitchen behind him. Church rubs his face and pads towards the kitchen. "You got a cup for me?" He asks. "No, but the mugs are in the top cupboard there." Wash says, sipping his coffee and pulling out his tablet to check on emails.  
"Some host you are." Church mutters, opening up the cabinet to grab one of those classy cat mugs Wash has a strange abundance of. "Seriously?" Church quirks a brow at the mug, looking back at Wash who merely shrugs. "I keep getting those as gag gifts from friends and fans. Why wouldn't I use them?" Church nods, that's a decent point.  
He serves himself a cup of coffee, putting in more sugar cubes and creamer than a normal person would.  
"So, what's for breakfast?" Church asks, sitting at the small table beside Wash. He made a small note that the chairs weren't a matching pair and that maybe Wash went out before Church came to visit to get another one just so they'd be able to sit together. Then he thinks that's ridiculous and he needs to stop thinking everything is about him.

"We're going out for breakfast. There's a nice diner I want to take you to." Wash says, putting his tablet aside. "Really?" Church says, that's kind of sweet. But, he doesn't want to voice that out loud.  
"It's also the first stop on our sight seeing list." Wash adds. "Nice. Always got a clever plan, don't you?" Church smiles, blowing at the top of his coffee before taking a drink.  
"Yes, It's always good to be prepared." Wash grins to himself. "So, once you're ready we can get going."  
"Give me an hour and we'll be good to go."  
"Thirty minutes."  
"Forty."  
"Twenty."  
"Alright!"

Church finally gets himself showered and dressed in a comfy pair of jeans and sneakers. There will be a lot of walking, Wash reminded him.  
He runs a hand through his messy hair after putting on his glasses and steps out of the bathroom to meet Wash.  
"Ready?" Wash asks, setting down a bowl of water and food he refilled for his cats. "Ready as ever." Church says, pocketing his cellphone.  
"Come on, you should be more excited. The city is exciting and-"  
"Wash, save it. We both know I would much rather stay in here playing video games than going sight seeing."  
"You'll change your mind once we get out there." Wash is sure; Church isn't, but he's going try not to be such a sour puss.  
"This is also supposed to be something like a first date." Wash says quietly. Church pauses, frowns at Wash because he's such a dweeb. "Why are you such a cheesy fuck?"  
Wash rolls his eyes and grabs his keys from the hook, "Let's go, Leonard."

The diner Wash takes him to is quaint. Kind of reminds him of a place back home. It's supposed to be some place a lot of famous people have been to. They even have signed photos hanging on the wall.  
Wash suggests the waffles, so that's what he orders. Extra whipped cream.  
"You're going to die if you keep eating so much sugar."  
"Then I will die happy and fat, thank you."

Carolina calls at noon, telling Wash the restaurant to meet her and York at.

Church won't admit it, but Wash was right. He is having fun and spending time with Wash is great.  
He feels giddy enough to hold his hand when he and Wash enter the restaurant.  
Carolina seems to notice right away, but doesn't say anything about it; thank god.  
"Boys." She greets them while York is grinning at both of them, "Hey, it's the kiddies!"  
Church rolls his eyes, York has always mildly annoyed him. "Look how cute these two are." He and Wash take the seats across from the other two. "Can we just have a nice get together and not talk about our relationship status?" Wash asked, chuckling a little.  
"But, that's why my future baby brother in law is here, isn't it?" York grins at him.  
"I'm going to mess up your good eye if you call me that again." Church points at York. "And, I'm not here just for Wash." That was sort of a lie, but like hell was he going to let them think that.  
"Leave them alone, York. Let's just order already." Carolina says, opening up her menu.  
"Alright, alright. So, how are you liking it here, Leo?" York asks, sitting back in his chair to rest an arm behind Carolina's shoulders.  
"Wash showed me around a little. We didn't see the grand stuff yet, but I saw a grown man in what seemed like a adult diaper while he played a guitar, so I think I got a good dose of what an average day in New York is like." Church says while Wash snickers beside him.  
York laughs, "I'm going to guess you've just met your first street performer." He says, "They're not all weird, I promise." York has lived here his whole life, that's most of what Church knew about him from Carolina. Those two met after college, sometime after Carolina moved to NY to work for her father's branch here.  
"We have street performers in Texas, but that was just weird."

Lunch goes well, Church realizes he can't stand York sometimes, but that's not very surprising outcome. The only reason he can tolerate the man is because he's good to his sister and, okay maybe he's not that bad of a guy. Church does enjoy telling York all the embarrassing stuff Carolina does. The noogie and sleeper hold he gets from her is worth it.

But, the day isn't over yet.  
Wash takes Church to a video game arcade because he knows he'd enjoy it and like the nerds they are they spend a good amount of time there. They were supposed to join Carolina for dinner, but it seemed to slip both their minds during their little date. Hopefully Carolina doesn't hold it against them.

"I'm going to kick your ass." Church is pressing the A and B buttons furiously while Wash effortlessly does a combo on his character and kicks his head off.  
"Are you kidding me!?" Church's voice cracks when he raises his voice. He frowns at Wash giggling his ass off beside him. "You fuck."  
"Maybe you shouldn't button mash so much, you could have gotten a few decent hits. I was definitely going easy on you." He shrugs, smug grin still on his face. Church is grateful they chose an old game in the corner of the dim arcade so he can tug Wash down by his shirt and kiss that smug smile away, and not worry about being seen.

When they go home it's late. Church is in a whole new outfit; he ironically bought a 'I Love New York' T-shirt and hat, along with a Statue of Liberty foam crown he made Wash wear. He'll probably give them as gifts to York or Carolina later.  
They trudge upstairs, Church is grateful it's only up to the second floor of the building. Wash wasn't kidding about the walking. They did get a taxi home, but after the arcade it was a trek across the island.  
He hardly realized how much they walked, honestly. Too busy enjoying his date with Wash.

Church sighs, lying down on the sofa once Wash gets the door open. Wash is there next to him, body almost completely covering Church. "Get off me," Church chuckles, pushing at Wash's shoulder half heartedly. Wash gives him an unintelligible grunt and doesn't budge. The crown Wash is wearing slips off his head, so Church takes it and tosses it somewhere on the coffee table. His hands rake through Wash's short hair, tugging at his ear just to be a prick. It was more of a sign of affection. At least, to Church it was. Wash seems to get it though.  
That's why he likes him, he gets him.  
Wash raises his head to look at him, Church suddenly realizes how close their lips are. It's Wash who steals the kiss this time. Slow, lingering kisses that leave Church leaning up for more when Wash pulls away.  
"You know, there were no rules about joining me on the sofa." Church says, a grin making its way onto his lips while he gets his arms around Wash's neck.  
"There's no way I'm sleeping here." Wash shakes his head making Church's grin fall because Wash is clueless.  
"Then get out of here." Church tugs at Wash's ear again, his arms falling from around his boyfriend. "I'm going to sleep if you're not going to make out with me." Church does his best not to pout.  
"Is that what you were suggesting?" Wash laughs.  
"Duh."  
"I'm sorry, I'm just too tired." Wash smiles lazily, leaning to nuzzle at Church's neck.  
"Yeah, me too." Church's hands are back to run through his hair.

Wash ends up falling asleep with Church, both very much regret it in the morning when Church wakes up nearly suffocated and Wash is sore in many places.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope this chapter isn't too boring ,,  
> anyway the game they're playing is beyond: two souls so in case u haven't played it there are some mild spoilers??

Carolina isn't too happy about them ditching her plans, but she understands and they have the day to themselves.  
What's a better way to waste it than playing video games?

Church sends out a heads up that they'll be streaming today. It's their first stream together, playing in the same room. Church may be a little excited about it.  
"I can help with that you know." Church says, watching Wash set up. "No, I've seen your stream, there's always something you mess up and can't fix."  
"That's a lie. It happened one time."  
"It happens every time. I'm not letting you touch anything."  
"You know what? I don't want to help anyway." Church takes a seat on Wash's chair, leaning back so it's balancing on one leg. "You're going to fall." Wash warns him, not looking away from his screen.  
Church ignores him, pulling out his phone to take a photo of Wash bending over to adjust some wires. He decides to post it online because Wash should be nicer when he offers to help. That kind of offer is once in a lifetime.

Once everything is ready and their audience of a few thousand are watching Wash starts the game. It's a two player game, Church chooses to be the ghost. Obviously. Anything paranormal was Church's favorite thing. Wash thought it was ridiculous.  
"Ghosts aren't real, Church."  
"How dare you."

"I can't believe you scared that woman half to death, Church. She didn't deserve that."  
"Yes, she did. She volunteered for this, didn't she? Don't make me the bad guy, it's these scientists back here messing with shit they don't understand."  
Church sits back while the story goes on and Wash's character is about to go to a party.  
"My first boy-girl party. I hope this doesn't turn out like my high school experience." Wash says, walking around the room while Church watches. "What was your first high school party like?" Church asks, he's pretty sure their audience would like to know as well.  
"I drank my first beer and puked all over this girl I had a crush on."  
"That's awful. I feel bad for that girl." Church laughs. "I feel bad for anyone who chose to date you after that."  
Wash gives him a look, Church grins right at him.  
Wash's attention is back on the game, "What- She dissed my taste in music. Can you believe this?"  
"Yes. I hate the bands you like."

"This is so boring, when am I going to get to play?"  
"Be patient, Church." Wash says while he makes the decision to make his character dance along with the other teens. She's suddenly approached by a boy asking to dance.  
"Say no, he looks like an asshole." Church says.  
"Why would I do that? This is my first time dancing with a boy, don't ruin this for me." Wash says just as he accepts.  
"I can't believe you." Church plays it up for the camera. "You leave me sitting here while you dance with some boy and flirt? Rude."  
"What the hell, he tried to grab my ass- we're not having any of that." Wash says, pressing a button. "Okay, now what kind of guy goes right for a kiss after a girl has made it clear she's not interested??"  
"An asshole, David." Church gestures at the screen. "What did I tell you?"  
"Why is my first boy crush an asshole?" Wash declines and the dance is over, the birthday girl of the party calls attention to the gift opening.  
"Oh, yeah, the book. I don't think she's going to like it. She seems like a snob." Church comments behind the can of redbull he's drinking.  
"Yeah." Wash agrees with a small nod.  
Their prediction is right and the kids make some mean comments and suddenly their girl is being picked up and locked away in a closet. Both can't believe this shit just happened.

Now Church gets to play and Wash doesn't hesitate when Church suggests revenge.  
"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" Wash says watching Church getting giddy over blowing up the birthday cake in the kid's faces.  
"Wash, did you see what they did? He called her a slut and I'm going to kick his ass."

"This is high school all over again." Wash comments watching the teens scramble out of the burning house.  
"Oh, really? You got locked in a closet and your ghost friend nearly killed some teenagers?"  
"Yeah. What? That's never happened to you?"  
Church snorts and nudges Wash. He's not funny at all. "You're such a loser."

"Is this going to be an all night stream?" Church asks while they take a break and take a moment to stretch and eat.  
"Well, I wasn't planning on it, but we are pretty far into the game. I don't know when we'll get a chance to finish it when you go back." Wash says, picking at the food they ordered from the Chinese place down the street. "Let's just cut it after the next chapter." Church says, breaking open his fortune cookie.  
"I wanted to stay up all night, but I only have a few days left, so.. I kind of wanted to spend that time with just you."  
"Now, who's being the sap?"  
"Shut up." Church flicks the paper at him, not making an effort to hide his smile.

After they're done streaming and Wash has shut down his computer, Church strides over to lean down and rest his chin on Wash's shoulder. Wash finds his hands on Church's after the other has put his arms around him.  
"I hope you're not too tired." Church mumbles against Wash's ear, pressing his lips against his cheek.  
"I think all those energy drinks I had are making it impossible to be tired."  
Wash turns in his chair to face Church after he's loosened his hold around him. Church sits back on Wash's bed which is conveniently nearby. Wash stands then, Church reaches for him, pulling him down so he can kiss him as he lies back onto the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :^)


	10. Chapter 10

It's a slow morning, Wash is usually up by now ready to start his day but Church was quick to shut off his alarm and convince Wash to stay in bed with him. It was pretty easy after he gave him a few sleepy kisses and they both ended up rolling around in the sheets again.

At some point in the morning they do actually leave the bedroom and go about their day.  
They don't have plans until later that night and neither are very spontaneous, but Wash drags Church out of the apartment to have another of these dates that don't really seem like dates because Church isn't nervous and wringing his hands.  
Instead he's quietly complaining about Wash making him leave the apartment while he slips his hand into Wash's.  
He's done that at least three times in public this week. Church has kept count. He's not sure why.

"I just want to spend as much time as I can with you." Wash explains while he and Church take a walk together into the park.  
"You can always come to visit me." Church shrugs, finding a bench and pulling Wash towards it so they can sit down.  
"I'd like that." Wash is smiling at him. "Yeah, and there's no fussy sisters back there who can make us leave the apartment." Church says, earning a chuckle from Wash.

It's a last minute decision that maybe they should have an official lunch date.  
A shout out to their usual lunch dates that were just an hour apart.  
"I'm tired of pizza." Church says as they look through menus Wash has of restaurants nearby.  
"Okay, no pizza." Wash tosses away a few cards from the pile.  
"Chinese?"  
"Nah." Church lazily replies, not looking up from his phone. Wash puts aside a few more cards.

They settle on burgers at the American diner Wash took him to his second day in New York.  
Church nudges at Wash's leg under the table, starting a battle he will not win.  
"You kicked me in the shin, asshole!"  
"You started it!"  
Church sticks his tongue out at him, because no matter how much he denies it- he is just as childishly immature as his friends.  
Wash rolls his eyes at him, hiding the smile he has by sipping at the chocolate milkshake he ordered. He offers some to Church, which was a bad idea because Church has finished it while he was stealing Church's fries.  
"Hey!" Wash frowns when he sips at an empty glass.  
"Ah! Brain freeze--" Church whines, holding his head in his hands. Wash laughs at him, "Serves you right."

Just as they're getting back to Wash's apartment York calls to ask if they were still going out with him and Carolina. "Yeah, sure." Church says, "Text us the address later."

After he hangs up he joins Wash in his bedroom just as the other is about to undress. "Want to join me in the shower?" Wash asks, expecting Church to say no, but instead he's eager to agree. "Yeah, why not?" He shrugs.  
Church pulls of his shirt and works on taking off his jeans as he makes his way to the bathroom. Wash follows after him after he's picked up both of their clothing and steps into the warm water with Church.

It's not as intimate as one would think- they both hog the water too long and Church almost slips, but luckily Wash has quick reflexes.  
"This is the worst, we're never doing it again." Church grumbles as Wash runs his hands through his dark hair and massages his scalp with shampoo. "Agreed." Wash says, making soapy spikes in Church's hair so it looks like he has devil horns. Church is too distracted by how nice it feels to realize what Wash is doing at the moment. But, when he does, he nudges Wash right in the gut.  
When it's Wash's turn, Church gets one arm around his neck to bring him close enough he can get his free hand into his short hair.  
"This takes a lot more work than letting me do it on my own." Wash says, then mutters something about Church being so fucking short. "Shut up, I'm trying to make a moment." Church frowns at him, tugging at his hair for the short comment.  
Wash retaliates by pinching at Church's side. "Ow!" Church jerks out of his reach, Wash laughs and gets a face full of soapy hands from Church. Their playful fight ends just as abruptly as it began and they both end up with soap in their eyes and bruises on Wash's knees and Church gets his own on his ass from falling over.

Church decides that if he and Wash ever decided to move in together, he thinks he can tolerate him.  
He likes waking up beside him in the morning, sharing a cup of coffee, having lunch together- in the same time zone and he likes that their elbows bump into each other as they get ready for the night out.  
Church blow dries his hair and Wash spikes his with a little bit of gel; so that's how he gets that 'I don't even have to try' look.  
"How crazy do these guys get when they go out?" Church asks, turning off the blow dryer so he can run his hands through his hair. "Not that crazy- on a normal night. If we were celebrating something then.. Things get a little crazy. I've woken up in the shower with no pants on and a killer headache."  
"That might be a little too much for me." Church says, shaking his head. Wash ruffles his hair, "You'll be fine, Carolina will probably keep things from getting too out of hand when you're around."  
"I don't want to be treated like the baby here either." Church struggles to keep from pouting. "I'm 23, that's only two years younger than you."  
"Well.. At least now that you're the youngster they'll probably stop treating me like the runt of the group." Wash says with a grin and turns on his heel to leave the bathroom.  
"That doesn't help me at all!" Church shouts after him.

Church gets dressed in one of the nicer shirts he brought along with him and borrows a gray vest from Wash's closet. "You clean up nice," Wash tells him, walking towards him just as he buttons the last button on his dress shirt. "Yeah, I know." Church gives a crooked grin, the tell-tale sign that he's both flattered and embarrassed from the compliment. "So do you." Church adds, liking the way Wash has his sleeves rolled up to show off his arms.  
Church tugs his boyfriend over to the sofa he's sitting at and brings him down with a kiss. Wash gets Church's legs around his waist, they really shouldn't be fooling around, Church knows that, but it's kind of hard not to when he looks so good and smells so nice- and, he'll be leaving soon, so what if he wants to spend most of his time feeling up his boyfriend. Church kisses at the love bite he left on Wash's neck last night. It's not going to fade any time soon, but he still mouths at it, making sure it won't.  
Wash pulls away when his phone vibrates with a text message from York. "Looks like they're already at the club." He says to Church below him, then puts his phone back in his pocket. "Lets not keep them waiting then." Church slides out from under Wash to get to his feet and straighten his clothes out and smooth down his messy hair.

Church expects the club to loud and full of people grinding up on each other. Instead, he sees a band playing live and the place is full of people, but they're not covered in glitter and body paint getting sloppy with each other. Thank god.  
He's sure there's other places here for that particular thing, Wash told him if South had picked the place that's where they'd be right now, but he's glad it was Carolina's idea to go somewhere tame tonight.  
They join Carolina and York at a large round table, "Are the others coming out too?" Wash asks as he slides in beside York. "North and South said they'd be coming out tonight, of course that means Connie will be tagging along too." Carolina answers. "Called Reggie and Butch earlier and they said they're getting too old to be going out, but they said they're sorry for missing out." York adds onto that.  
"I don't think I'll miss seeing my old camp counselor and his boyfriend anyway." Church says, getting a nudge from Carolina. "Butch adores you, Leonard. He says he thought of you and Tucker like younger brothers, or his sons. Don't be so rude."  
"I wouldn't be rude if he wasn't such a creepy dude."

The others don't take long to show up, York is just getting back from the bar with their drinks when they walk up. "Couldn't wait for the rest of us?" North teases. To make up for it York heads back with North to grab Connie and South's drinks.  
South slides into their booth beside Church just to get her arm around him and give him a good noogie. Church appreciates it as much as he does when Carolina does it.  
"Oh my god, you're gonna rub my scalp off!"

Connie is a lot kinder with her greeting, if Church had to choose, she'd be his favorite person out of all of Carolina's friends.  
North and York show up again just as Church is telling Connie about everyone back home and how he's liking it here.  
They slide into the booth and it gets a little more crowded, but it's not uncomfortable. Everyone falls into their own conversation, South and Connie argue over something South did at their apartment and North adds something that makes South kick him under the table, but misses and ends up kicking Wash. Church snorts into his drink and gets a glare from Wash while the others laugh along with him.  
At one point Connie drags Wash to go dance with her because the twins are showing off their moves. Church is left with Carolina and York until he takes off to refill his and Carolina's drinks.  
"So.." Carolina starts, leaning towards him and tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear. "How are things between you too?"  
"What?" Church asks, a little surprised his sister is interested in his love life. "Come on, everyone is curious and before Wash goes spilling the details about your relationship to Connie, I think I should be one of the first to know."  
"You just want to be first in everything, don't you?"  
"Yeah, so what? Spill it, Leonard."  
Church sighs, "What do you want me to say? We're together. No big deal."  
"But, not publicly?"  
"I don't think a bunch of strangers need to know about my relationship. Besides half of them already think we are anyway. Why do I need to make a public announcement?" Church shrugs, sipping at his fruity cocktail.  
"Fair point." She says, "But, does Wash feel the same about that?"  
"I don't know." Church shrugs again, "We'll talk about that when we need to. For now, it's fine as it is."  
"Alright. Now.. Was that a hickey I saw on Wash's neck?"

Church doesn't dance. That's what he tells Wash but his boyfriend still drags him out to the dance floor anyway.  
"It's a slow song, you don't really need to dance."  
Church begrudgingly agrees and gets his arms around Wash's neck while Wash puts his on his waist and they gently sway and step to the music playing.  
"This is dumb." Church mumbles under his breath. "Shut up, this is romantic." Wash says, leaning enough that he can rest his forehead against Church's. Church scoffs, but he doesn't open his mouth to complain again. He presses his lips against Wash's, just a tiny peck. He might still be a little uneasy with PDA, but Wash doesn't seem to mind it. He's smiling at him, and that's a good sign to Church.

After a few more drinks and Church making the dumb mistake to take up North on his drinking challenge, Wash takes a very wasted Church home. Church is a very clingy drunk when he's in a good mood.  
His words slur, but Wash makes out the 'I love you' Church mumbles against his skin when he gets him out of his clothing and ready for bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like the ending of this chapter was rushed but overall im pretty happy with it- also im sorry it took me a while to update whoops


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit sorry it took so long to update i had internet problems and inspiration problems but here's the last chapter,,,!

Today is Church's last day, and when he wakes up it's completely surprising that he's alone.  
There's a text message from Wash telling him he had some errands to run and that Church can entertain himself with whatever he wants for a few hours.  
A long shower and one large breakfast later Church takes over Wash's desk, Benjamin climbs onto his lap and Church doesn't really mind. It's Wash's shirt he's getting cat hair all over anyway.

Church logs into one of Wash's games and plays for an hour or so, successfully ruining the winning streak he was going through.  
He gets bored of that very quickly after ruining the entire game for Wash, and puts on a movie he will barely watch while Benjamin plays with his fingers when he taps them on the desk.  
Some time in the middle of the film, he gives Tucker a call while he raids the fridge for today's lunch.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me you were leaving to New York for a week?" Tucker says as soon as he answers.  
"I didn't?" Church asks, genuinely confused. "I thought I told you about that."  
"You didn't, asshole."  
"I'll be coming home tomorrow, you can kick my ass then." Church says with a small grin, getting ingredients for his lunch.  
"Damn right I will. Why'd you go up there anyway?"  
"Visiting my sister.. And Wash." Church answers, mumbling those last few words while he gets a slice of cheese on his sandwich.   
He can just see the wheels turning in Tucker's head.  
"Oh my god."  
"Tucker."  
"Are you two banging?"  
"No! I mean. Yeah? Shut up, that isn't important. Why is that the first thing you ask me?"

Tucker gives him a lot of teasing comments, Church can't stand it, and that's not really why he called in the first place. "What have you assholes been up to?"  
"Is this your way off saying you miss us?" Tucker asks. "Hell no." Church says and Tucker chuckles knowing that means he does.  
"Well, Donut had one of his parties yesterday. Shit was a nightmare, dude"  
Tucker then tells him how it went, Grif knocked over the punch bowl and Donut flipped about the stain it'd leave. The only thing Grif was torn up about was that the brownies were ruined-- it didn't stop him from eating the soggy brownies though. Simmons almost puked from that.  
"Glad I wasn't there for that."  
"I took pictures."

"Hey, maybe when you get back we'll get together again and you won't miss the next time Grif eats something disgusting."  
Church says he'll pretend he's going and he'll just flake last minute.  
"Just like the old times," Tucker says.  
Honestly, it's going to be nice to hang out with his friends again. Being around Carolina and Wash's crazy friends made him miss his own.  
Church goes on to tell him about his night out with Wash's friends, "North is a crazy motherfucker."

He doesn't even realize how long they talk until he hears the jingle of keys and the front door opening.  
"I think that's Wash." Church tells Tucker.  
"Hey, I'm back!" Wash calls out to him.  
"I'm in here!"  
"Hey, wait - put me on speaker!" Tucker says just as Wash comes into the room, dropping his things to slip his arms around Church while he lies on the bed.  
"What? No!" Church tells him.  
"Who's that?" Wash asks. "It's Tucker, but I'm hanging up now." Church says, more so to Tucker than Wash because he can hear him trying to saying something most likely embarrassing to Wash.  
"Where have you been?" Church asks after he hangs up.  
"Can't put off work just because you're here."  
"I find that offensive. I deserve your complete undivided attention." Church says.  
"I can see that. You trashed my apartment, and I was only gone for three and a half hours." Wash says, looking around his bedroom. Church has some clothes tossed around the floor, which he forgot to pick up after his shower. He left a bag of chips near the desk where he was playing games and the games too are even out of place. "You're worse than the cats."  
"I also find that offensive."

\--

After Church picks up his mess, he's given that much needed attention from Wash when he settles on the couch with him, hands ready to play with his hair.  
"Today's my last day." Church says, "I have to leave in the morning." He feels Wash's arm tighten around his middle. "Yeah, I know." Wash says with a sigh. He looks away from the television where they're watching a ghost hunter show- Church complained about anything else Wash tried to put on- and fixes his eyes on Church. "I'd say I would miss having you here, but I really won't miss the mess that follows after you." A teasing grin pulls at Wash's lips. Church scoffs and lightly thumps his forehead against his boyfriend's, "Asshole."

On the table beside them, Church's phone beeps once and then beeps at least fifty times, all within a minute.  
Church leans over Wash, getting a slightly annoyed response from Wash for having most of Church's weight pressed on him. It's not his fault Church's phone was placed so far from his reach.  
He settles back and slides open the lock to see the notifications that’s popped up.  
What he sees kind of makes stomach drop.  
It's a photo of him and Wash at the arcade, caught in the act of kissing.  
Not a big deal, right? It's a huge deal because now everyone knows it happened. Knows about them.  
"Son of a bitch." He curses quietly, Wash peeks at his phone and doesn't take it as bad as Church does. "That's a nice photo."  
"I didn't take it, Wash. Someone else did, they must have recognized us and now my phone won't shut up." Church frowns and tosses the beeping cell aside. Wash picks it up and goes through the notifications.  
"I don't see why you're upset, most of these comments aren't that bad."  
"That's not the point." Church rolls his eyes, slightly more irritated. "I don't like my personal life being put out on display. This moment," He gestures to the picture, "That was just supposed to be between us." It made it more intimate that way, Church thinks.  
"Okay, a few thousand people know we kissed, that's not going to make it any less special to me."  
Church groans, face falling onto Wash's chest, "I know, but.."  
"Look, all you have to do is tell these people not to butt in if it makes you uncomfortable." Wash tries to comfort him, running his hand down his back.  
"Why do I have to be so popular, Wash. It's become a curse."

With a now public relationship, it's both overwhelming and a weight off Church's shoulders. There are people who've called it from the beginning and people who never saw it coming. There are people who've thought he was one-hundred percent straight and Church gets a laugh out of that. He tells them he's pansexual, to clear that up.  
Church feels better he's not obligated to share information he doesn't have to. All he says about it is that, _"Yeah it’s a fucking thing. Even I can't resist that dreamy mother fucker."_  
Wash laughed at him while he watched Church write that out and hit send.

They stay up for most of the night, sitting as close as possible on Wash's small couch while they watch a season or two of an superhero web series. Which leads to banter, and arguments about their favorite characters.  
"You always root for the bad guys."  
"Well, the bad guys have way better super powers."  
"But they always lose."  
"With style."  
"No, he was just pushed off a building."

Benjamin and the newest stray Wash has decided to call Ari join them a while later, Church grumbles while they paw at his clothes and try to climb him like he's some sort of mountain and Wash does nothing to help him, but record it on his phone for his own enjoyment.  
"I can't believe they love you."  
"I have woken up with this guy laying on my face, almost every night. I'm one-hundred percent certain he's trying to suffocate me while I sleep." Church says, picking up Benjamin to glare at the sweet kitten's face. "He has it out for me, David."

Four am comes too soon.   
Church is exhausted and so is Wash, but they're both sure staying up all night together was worth it.  
Wash gets a pot of coffee ready while Church goes to pack up his suitcase again and get dressed.

Church makes his way into the kitchen where Wash is and wraps his arms around him from behind, using his back as some sort of pillow while Wash is serving them both hot cups of coffee.  
"I told you to sleep." Wash says, trying not to yawn after Church does.  
"And, I told you I'll get some sleep on the plane." Wash turns around and Church loosens his hold around his boyfriend in favor of getting his hands on the mug Wash is offering to him. "You got as much sleep as I did." Church mumbles into his mug.  
"Yeah, but I can handle it, you get really grumpy when you don't sleep."  
"That's not true." Church scowls at him. Wash puts his hands up, dropping the subject.

Carolina is at home still, Church calls to tell her goodbye. She asks why she can't just come to the airport with him and Church's response is a very awkward, "I just want… some alone time to say goodbye?"  
"Alright, alright." He can hear her smug smile through the phone, "You're such a sap, Church. As if you're not going to call him as soon as you land and get home." Church's face is flushed, he quickly denies that, "No, I'm not! I'll call you later, bye." He hangs up, and if Wash notices the embarrassment on Church's face when he walks past he doesn't say anything.  
"Alright, let's get going, Wash."

"I had a nice time." Wash says, stuffing his hands in his pockets, Church has to bite his lip from teasing him about how awkward he's being. "Yeah, me too." Church says instead. "We should-"  
"We are. In two months. Don't forget." Wash gives him a look, because Church always forgets important dates.  
"Alright," Church rolls his eyes, his face softens and he sighs, "I'm gonna miss you."  
"I'll miss you too…"

Church almost doesn't want to leave, but he knows he has to. He hates how clingy goodbyes make him.  
Wash cups his face, just as he was about to turn away, because if he prolongs this he'll never leave. Suddenly he's pulled right back towards Wash into a long, and lingering kiss which makes it even more difficult to leave.  
"You'll miss your flight." Wash tells him while Church makes no attempt to pull away again. "Yeah, yeah. I know." Church says, watching how his hands fit perfectly with Wash's. He looks up at Wash, presses his forehead against his and gives him one more peck.  
"I hate you. I don't even want to leave now, what have you done to me?"  
Wash chuckles, nuzzling at Church's cheek. "You don't. I think you're in love with me."  
"Fuck, you're right." Church's lips pull back into a grin, then he's pushing Wash away, "Okay, I seriously have to go now."

Being with Wash was great, but the thought of getting back home and back in the comfort of his own apartment, and his own bed where no cats could suffocate him while Church slept was euphoric.  
It might make him the huge loser, but Church left with a happy, content feeling. Like, he can't wait for the next two months to pass and he'll get be with Wash again, and it's dumb and it makes him get these butterflies.  
When he see Wash again he's going to blame him for the dumb feelings he experiences, because clearly he is the one to blame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i will definitely be writing wash's visit to texas later but for now i think that's it <3


End file.
